Dad’s girlfriend beat toddler girl so severely that she ‘died within minutes’: Police

A South Carolina woman is accused of murdering her boyfriend’s toddler daughter, after the three-year-old was found dead of blunt force trauma.

The Herald Online reports that Kayla Cook, 25, was arrested Dec. 29 and charged with homicide by child abuse. Lillian Schroeder, 3, was pronounced dead earlier in December after police responded to a call about an unresponsive child.

Cook is reportedly the live-in girlfriend of the child’s father. Cook is accused of beating the child in the head so severely that she ““died within minutes of this head injury,” according to an arrest warrant obtained by the Herald Online.

The suspect was babysitting the girl when she died, and reportedly asked a neighbor to call 911 about an unresponsive child. But Cook reportedly told investigators that the little girl was “not acting right” and appeared unresponsive when she checked on her in the bathtub.

Investigators reportedly found multiple bruises on the victim in addition to her head injuries. A medical examination found that the toddler died after the blunt force trauma to her head caused bleeding insider her skull.

Chief Scott Grant of Lancaster Police Department told reporters that the sudden death has “has taken a heavy toll on the families involved.”